This was one of the attempts made on our corporate blog to mention the books that we read in the year gone by…

I decided lemme take the plunge too 🙂

Cos I do read a lot of books.. But somehow I don’t post most book reviews.. I dunno.. It just doesn’t give me the zing to do a book review.. But in this new year.. I vouch I shall try to spread my knowledge of books to people 😀

Arthaarth (in other words) I shall try to book review more 😉

Before I embark on a journey down memory lane to list down the books.. I would like to tell you that around 80% of the books mentioned here were read between June’09 to Dec’09

Cos till June I was in Chennai I hardly had time to catch up on books though I still managed to read quite a handful of them… including a book borrowed from Laalten which im yet to return (shh… don’t tell NIVE she’ll kill me 😳 )

So here are the list of books I read in the year gone by..

Kite Runner ~ Khaled Hossieni – borrowed, read and loved it J so much so that I managed to watch the movie too… lovely heartwarming and in many places heart wrenching story too… a lovely tale of 2 friends who are actually half brothers… do read it if you haven’t read it yet…

Memoirs of Geisha ~ Arthur Golden – lent to me by my best friend Aarthi (my partner in crime in chennai 😛 ) this again is a book where I have shed quite a tear.. and I made it a point to catch the movie after I read the book.. The story revolves around the life of a Geisha and all that she went through in life.. if you don’t mind reading stories with a little pathos in them do read this..

I’ll be seeing you ~ Mary Higgins Clark – a TV journalist who is summoned to the city morgue to look at the body of a young female murder victim. Patricia is shocked to discover that the dead girl is her exact double — suggesting that she was killed in a case of mistaken identity by an unknown assailant

The Devil Wears Prada ~ Lauren Weisberger – again lent to me by Aarthi.. this was my introduction to the world of Chick Lits… and from there on the journey into the world of Chick-lits hasn’t stopped till then

Sons of Fortune ~ Jeffrey Archer – It is a tale of two brothers, Fletcher and Nat Cartwright, who are born twins but are separated at birth and how their lives intertwine separate and meet again … Destiny at its best 😀

The tell tale heart ~ Edgar Allan Poe – this was one of the first book I read of Sir Edgar Allan Poe.. It follows an unnamed narrator who insists on his sanity after murdering an old man with a “vulture eye”. The murder is carefully calculated, and the murderer hides the body by dismembering it and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately the narrator’s guilt manifests itself in the hallucination that the man’s heart is still beating under the floorboards.

Cross Country~ James Patterson – a Crime novel.. Trails the incidents in the life of Alex Cross who heads to Africa to investigate the death of his former GF’s family.. Many murders follow, which cause him to decide to travel deep into the heart of Central Africa to solve this gruesome mystery, spurred on by the knowledge that the Tiger and his gang are already planning their next massacre… very gruesome description of murders… after a point I stopped reading.. I just couldn’t take it anymore.. I might pluck up more courage and maybe finish reading someday… it’s a perfect plot for Hollywood action movies..

Remember Me ~ Sophie Kinsella – another Chick Lit about a girl who forgets 3yrs of her life jus cos she met with an accident.. Last she remembers was a previous hit she obtained on her death when she was 24.. From then to 27 she doesn’t remember an incident.. And those 3 yrs her whole life underwent a drastic change- from being miss snaggly tooth to miss hip hep happening.. from being stood up by a next door BF to bein married to filthy rich Mr. Perfect and supposed to be in affair with hubby’s friend..Wat happened..??read the book 😛

Can you keep a Secret ~ Sophie Kinsella – Another chick lit.. A typical damsel in distress (distressed with her job) meets a stranger on plane.. and in a temporary air turbulence which lasts for an hour and she thinks she’s gonna die she spills out her innermost turmoil, fears , secrets of friends, family, bf too… and later he turns out to be her super-boss..Wat happens is wat the story is all about..

The Beloved Witch ~ Rachel Ford – this is a M&B book which I picked up from my friend, it’s the story about a man and woman who meet after 9 yrs, they had been in love when they were kids and how due to her father’s influence she had left and moved on to complete her studies and came back to the same town as part of Film Unit’s catering services. How he uses his influence to get her to work for him, marry him and how people try to sabotage their relation and well, in the end.. All’s well that ends well……. Well… not a bad read at all J

Fantastic Beasts and where to find them ~ yeepiee.. Picked this one up.. But it was a tad ok.. I wonder how Hermione really manages to remember their names at all …

12. Five Children and IT~ Nesbit – Saw the movie first and then read the book. It’s cute, it’s a story about a lower class English family of 5 children, who in the process of jus digging up sand for play-sake, meet a Sand Fairy called Psammead and how it grants them one wish a day which if tangible stuff ofcourse is gone by sunset, and how they goof up everyday till they figure out how these wishes work and thereby start wishing accordingly. Its kinda cute and preferably for a light read up and well the movie was good too..

13. Echoes of the Dark ~ GayleWilson – This is yet another M&B novel I read. It again not bad, basically cos of a certain amount of mystery to it. The story is about Julian, who, blinded by a car accident where his wife (who was driving) is lost. After 9 yrs, his brother sets up another female(who doesn’t remember her past) to work as his assistant who smells, feels, behaves, talks, everything just like his dead wife was. Who is this mystery woman?? Nice read up.. gets a lil slow somewhere in the middle but it’s not bad.

14. Tales of Beetle the Bard~ I dint buy this one; Bro gifted them to me with the whole collection of HP books :D… Bless him J its an ok read..

15. The Alchemist ~ PauloCoelho – Finally I got my hands on this one and read it.. nice one

16. Brida ~PauloCoelho – story about soul mates.. very interesting atleast for me

17. Eleven Minutes ~ PauloCoelho – read this one too.. It was a different love story.. and loved the fact he included the line from CASABLANCA – we’ll always have Paris

19. PS I Love You ~ Cecelia Ahern -A lovely story… I guess all those who have read or watched the movie would agree with me… and yes finally I managed to watch the movie too 😀 thanks to torrents 😛

20. Everyone Worth Knowing ~ Lauren Weisberger – details of the book can be find in the previous meme of my life according to literature

21. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ~F. Scott Fitzgerald – yes yes I managed to get my hand on an E-book loaded it onto my IPhone and read this one 😀 though m yet to watch the flick K

22. Chasing Harry Winston ~ Lauren Weisberger another chick lit based on a year in the life of 3 best friends.. the bet they make and how that’s changes their life…

23. Let Me Call You Sweetheart ~ Marry Higgins Clark – before you guys write this off as another CHICK LIT lemme warn you guys don’t go by the TITLE.. MHC is called the QUEEN OF SUSPENSE and I’m an ardent reader of hers… though her titles mislead most of the times.. but they are def relevant to the plot.. And the plots are mostly thrillers and murder mysteries..

24. Silent Night ~ Mary Higgins Clark ~ murderer escaped from prison on the prowl, a mother searching for her second child on a cold Christmas eve, an ailing father awaiting his wife and sons… a boy clinging on to his grandfather’s medal with faith that it could make his father well.. how they all connect and the boy is rescued is the story..

25. Confessions of a Shopaholic ~ Sophie Kinsella.. You guys have seen the movie.. It’s a chick lit book.. I aint talkin much 😛

26. Castles ~ Julie Garwood – this is a M&B kinda book… set in the medieval times of Knights and Princesses, Dukes and Duchesses.. a love story with its usual masala of murder, love, friendship, family values and the typical boy n girl fight, become frns, fall in love blah blah blah… but it was fun reading this one

27. Oh Shit Not again~ I’m not telling you the plot again 😛 read the review

28. 20 and still a virgin ~ Ankur Dahiya – first time writer narrates his life story from school to college with fictitious names for himself and his friends… mindless read.. When u don’t want to read anything heavy and wanna learn what is better to be avoided in ur first book.

29. Right Shoe Wrong Foot ~ Varsha Dixit – set in Lucknow.. about a 26 yr old Nandini who falls for the stinking rich and appropriately intelligent bad boy, next door—-her neighbor, Aditya Sarin. Nandini, like every other person, inhabiting the planet India, has been ‘touched’ by Bollywood (that is about to become a global phenomena, if it has not already). She mocks at Aditya, breaks up from him, and yet yearns for his love… sigh…Wondering wat.. read it up 😛

30. Daddy’s Little Girl – Mary Higgins Clark – A story of a journalist who re-opens the case of her sister’s murder (which changed her whole life – parents separated, father remarried, mom moved to America took to alcohol and dies) almost 15yrs later… and makes sure the real culprit is punished..Touching story..

31. Mistress of the Game ~ Tilly BagShawe.. Not as gripping as Sidney’s Master of the Game but nonetheless was worth a read.